Neurocrisis Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Hello all, Been lurking for a week or so, decided to introduce myself. I have been trying to come off Lexapro the way the doc told me to. All of you can guess how that's working. I'll give a history in my sig once I get it all straight. My brain can't hold to one thing long enough to get it all. I came from 40 mg lexapro to 0 in 4 weeks all seemed well till there was no mor lexapro in the equation. Now I'm in crisis brain is running a million miles an hour didn't sleep for about 70 hours. Have been on the edge of a panic attack the whole time been out of work a week. I started back on 20 mg lex to get me back to normal well "the lexapro normal". So I can function. I'll update more soon I can't think right now. If this gets worse I don't know what I can do.... I can't get fired but in my job it's to dangerous to work this way. I'll go by "T" Post script, I'll get my sig updated as soon as I can for my history. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted July 15, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hi Neurocrisis. Welcome. As I'm sure you now guess, your taper was much too fast. I'm so sorry your feeling so poorly. Unfortunately, it seems the majority of doctors have very little clue about tapering and withdrawal, or are dismissive. I'm glad you'll be doing your signature. That's always incredibly helpful. How long have you been off Lexapro? Given how quickly you tapered and how severe your symptoms sound right now it might be worth considering reinstating a small amount of Lexapro. Sometimes reinstating a small amount can help alleviate symptoms, after which you can start tapering much more slowly. Here's some information on that: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/ Also, many people find fish oil and Magnesium helpful. Here are a couple of links for those: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/ http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/ When you feel upto it, it would be great if you could provide more detail on your medication history as well as your current symptoms and such. The more information we have the better guidance people here can provide. Glad you came out of lurking. Again, welcome. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus areyouthere Posted July 15, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hello T, Welcome. You will find lots of help and support here. Let us know how well the reinstatement has worked so that we can help you from there. RU Fall 1995 xanax, zoloft. switched to Serzone 1996- spring 2003serzone/ xanax/ lightbox. b]Fall 2003- Fall 2004? Lexapro 10 mg. Light box /4 mg. xanax.[/b] 2004 - Fall of 2009 10 mg Lex, 150 mg Wellbutrin XL % 4 mg xanax November 2009- Sept. 2011 10 mg lex., 300 Well. XL, 4 mg Xanax [/b Sept.2012- July 2012 20 mg Lex 300 Well. XL, 4 mg Xanax My mantra " go slow & with the flow " 3/2/13.. Began equal dosing 5 Xs /day xanax, while simultaneously incorporating a 2.5 % drop ( from 3.5 mg/day to 3.4 mg/day) 4/6/13 dropped from 300 mg. Wellbutrin XL to 150 mg. Difficult but DONE! Down to 3.3 mg xanax/ day / 6/10/13 3 mg xanax/day; 7/15/2013 2.88mg xanax/day. 10/ 1/2013...... 2.5 mg xanax… ( switched to tablets again) WOO HOO!!!!!! Holding here… cont. with Lexapro. 1/ 2/2014.. tapered to 18mg ( by weight) of a 26 mg ( by weight) pill of 20 mg tab. lexapro. goal is 13mg (by weight OR 10 mg by ingredient content) and STOPPED. Feeling very down with unbalanced, unpredictable WD symptoms. 1/2/2014- ??? Taking a brain-healing break from tapering anything after actively tapering something for 1.5 years. So… daily doses as of 2/2/2014: 18 mg by weight Lex, 150 mg Well. XL, 2.5 mg xanax, down from 26 mg by weight Lex., 300 mg well. XL, 4 mg xanax in August, 2012. I'll take it. 5/8/14 started equivalent dose liquid./ tabs. 5/13/14 1.5 % cut. Link to comment
DaddyCee Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hi. I came off from Escitalopram / Lexpro a little under 2 years ago. I tapered gradually to the 5mg mark and then my DR. had me wean from 5mg to 0 over a course of 1 month which as we all know is too quick. If you need help when going through side effects then please post here and I will try my best. I would get stable on 20mg before any further drops. Namaste. 1997 - 2001 Seroxat 10mg 2001 - 2013 Escitalopram 10mg Gradual taper from 10mg to 5mg over 2.5 years (between 2011 - 2013) Last taper from 5mg to 0 under advice from doctor done in 1 month (too damn fast!) - included missing out days. Have been drug free since Oct 2013. - Yep 5 years drugs free Link to comment
SSRIjunky Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hi, Well it was horrible for me to try to quit from 5 mg to 0 mg in one month. Then I went back to 5 mg after a month again and was able to stabilize within a few weeks. Can't imagine how it feels going from 40 mg... Please let us know how are you doing. 2003 october - 2004 august: Sertraline (don't remember the dose, however tried to quit it cold turkey once, dizziness, zaps etc. reinstated after a few days, tapered in few months, with no major withdrawal, with a slight increase of anxiety. )2014 July - 2014 December: 10 mg Escitalopram/Quetiapine slowly weaned myself from quetiapine 50 mg to 6 mg quetiapine with no problems.2014 December - 5 mg Escitalopram, major improvement in wellbeing, but SSRI numbness still present. Decided to quit it... what a mistake. 2014 January - 0 mg, after 3 days zaps, dizziness, extreme fatigue, then after 2 weeks a week or so everything seemed quite ok, on the 4th week acute depression, with horrible insomnia (with nightmares, night sweats (never had those prior), suicidal thoughts (never had those prior), feelings of terror, doom, extreme fear (never had those..). Reinstated after a month. 2015 February - reinstated 5 mg Escitalopram, first few weeks paralyzing anxiety, obsessive thoughts, severe depression, was lucky that i stabilized after 3-4 weeks. 2015 February - 2015 April: 5 mg Escitalopram, numbness becomes unbearable, depression caused by the drug itself, as i no longer feel as myself, psychiatrist suggests to cut the dose to 2.5 mg ("you will be ok, no one is that sensitive" - really?) 2015 May - 2.5 mg Escitalopram, again numbness subsides, first 2 weeks emotions surge, in week 3 insomnia starts with the same nightmares, sweats, suicidal thoughts at the waking in 3-5 am, blurred vision , brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, tinnitus...2015 05 29 - updosed to 5 mg Escitalopram, sleep better, no anxiety, however feel betrayed, unhappy and very sad because of this situation... 2015 10 12 - Escitalopram 4.5 mg/ Quetiapine 6.25 mg [...] 2016 01 04 - Escitalopram 3 mg/Quetiapine 25 mg 01 18 - 2.75 / 01 28 - 2.5 / 02 14 - 2.25 / 02 27 - 2 / 03 14 - 1.75 / 04 01 - 1.5 Other Psychiatric Drugs - Quetiapine daily at night 25 mg. Link to comment
DaddyCee Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 when ready drop from 5mg very carefully, the slower you take it the less bumpy the ride. You will get some bumps but hopefully the landing will be much smoother. When you get those "windows" cherish them and when you go through the "waves", remember the windows and that will get you through. Live to today. 1997 - 2001 Seroxat 10mg 2001 - 2013 Escitalopram 10mg Gradual taper from 10mg to 5mg over 2.5 years (between 2011 - 2013) Last taper from 5mg to 0 under advice from doctor done in 1 month (too damn fast!) - included missing out days. Have been drug free since Oct 2013. - Yep 5 years drugs free Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted July 15, 2015 Administrator Share Posted July 15, 2015 DaddyCee, thank you for your helpful comments. Please also open an Introductions topic for yourself so we can get to know you. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now